Request for Proposals for an Educational Activity:
“Tumor Hypoxia”
To be held in conjunction with the
Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS)
Annual Meeting
November 4-7, 2015
Salt Lake City, UT
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Request for Proposals
EMD Serono Commitment to Medical Education
EMD Serono, Inc. is a scientific and educational leader in our therapeutic areas of interest.
EMD Serono, Inc. is aware of the ongoing need for support for accredited continuing medical
education. We understand that continuing medical education is the foundation for health care
providers to provide quality, effective, and safe health care to their patients.
EMD Serono Commitment to Independence in Medical Education
EMD Serono, Inc. is committed to the independence of medical education. In awarding a grant,
EMD Serono will make no grant as a reward or in exchange for prescribing or purchasing EMD
Serono products or to induce the prescription or purchase of EMD Serono products in the
future. Grant recipients are not expected or obliged to prescribe, purchase, or recommend an
EMD Serono product.
To maintain the independence of medical education programs it funds, EMD Serono will not
exercise any control over or influence the educational program organization, operation, content,
materials, faculty, speakers, presenters, moderators, audience or venue. All Grant Recipients,
in accordance with the Grant Recipients’ guidelines, will take responsibility for and control over:
the identification of educational needs; determination of educational objectives; selection of
content, faculty or other persons and organizations that will be in a position to control the
content of the activity, educational methods, materials, target audience and venue; evaluations;
and presentation of content.
Purpose and Scope of this Request for Proposals
The EMD Serono Medical Education and Grants Office is seeking proposals for consideration
that address the following educational needs:
I. Disease Area
Tumor Hypoxia
In contrast to the well-ordered microvascular architecture of normal tissue, the microvascular
network and other components of the microenvironment within tumor tissue are usually
structurally disorganized. In addition, tumor cells proliferate rapidly and often have the potential
to outgrow the development of the tumor blood capillaries, reducing the vascular density and
creating a population of tumor cells that are distant from the tumor vasculature. As a
consequence there are areas within tumors where oxygen and many conventional anticancer
agents are unable to penetrate.1
One of the consequences of compromised oxygen delivery is the development of areas of
hypoxia, which are a common feature of solid tumors.2 These areas are distributed
heterogeneously within tumors and are independent of tumor characteristics such as size,
stage, histology, and grade.Error! Bookmark not defined.,3 Furthermore, they are associated not only with
reduced cell proliferation, but also, paradoxically, with the development of an aggressive,
invasive, and metastatic tumor phenotype.Error! Bookmark not defined.
Under conditions of cell hypoxia, genomic instability can lead to tumor cell variants that can
survive in an oxygen depleted environment through clonal selection and expansion.Error! Bookmark
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not defined.,2
This clonal expansion can lead to tumor progression, poorer clinical outcomes (e.g.
hypoxic cervical cancer, soft tissue sarcoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and
neck).Error! Bookmark not defined. and acquired resistance to chemotherapy.Error! Bookmark not
defined.
The focus of this RFP is on identifying innovative continuing medical education (CME) and
continuing professional development (CPD) programs addressing the role of hypoxia in tumor
biology and its clinical implications. EMD Serono expects medical education providers to
independently identify evidence-based professional practice gaps that shall serve as the basis
for developing educational objectives for proposed medical education programs.
Audience
Medical education programs proposed in response to this RFP should address the learning
needs of the following HCP audience: HCPs involved or interested in tumor hypoxia.
Educational approach
Medical education programs submitted in response to this RFP should meet the educational
needs of the stated target audience and address evidence-based professional practice gaps in
HCPs’ knowledge, skills and/or performance. Provider organizations should clearly state which
precise learning formats shall be applied to address each specific professional practice gap
identified. Whenever possible, provider organizations are encouraged to integrate their
programs into a curriculum based strategy for life-long learning.
Outcome measurement EMD Serono prefers to support medical education provider
organizations capable of performing outcome measurements to assess the learning
effectiveness of their programs. A minimum of level 3, preferably level 4 on the Moore’s scale is
favored.5 In the detailed proposal, provider organizations should clearly specify how and to
which level they plan to measure learning effectiveness for each identified professional practice
gap.
Eligibility
Only Accredited CME providers are eligible to respond to this RFP. No individual HCPs, HCP
practice groups, HCP-owned clinics, Managed Care Organizations or Pharmacy Benefit
Managers may apply for a grant.
Deadline for Submission of Grant Application
The deadline for submitting a grant application in connection with this Request for Proposals is
July 31, 2015.
How to Respond to this Request for Proposals
Requests must be submitted through EMD Serono’s Request Management website,
www.grants.emdserono.com. If you are not yet a registered user, click on “register” and create
a user profile. If you have any questions, please contact us by phone (1-800-283-8088) or
email (megrants@emdserono.com).
Completing the Grant Application on the Request Management Website
The information below will help you fill out the particular sections of the online grant application.
“General Information” Section of the Request Application
Complete all information requested under the “General Information” section.
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“Program Overview” Section of the Grant Application
Complete all information requested under the “Program Overview” section. This section relates
to the program that your organization is proposing in response to this Request for Proposals.
Below is specific guidance on certain fields in this section:
Budget
Proposals should not exceed $250,000 USD
Event Start and End Dates
Potential dates for the start and end of the program, taking into account necessary planning
time.
Total Credit Hours and Number of Attendees
Information should be based on good faith estimates.
Please Note: A complete reconciliation will be required following the close of the program.
Terms, Conditions and Disclaimers
1. The purpose of the Request for Proposals is to make CME providers and other qualified
organizations aware that EMD Serono is interested in receiving grant applications through
its Medical Education Program for an independent education program. It is not an offer to
contract. Only the execution of a Grant Agreement by the CME provider/organization and
EMD Serono will obligate EMD Serono and the provider/organization in accordance with the
terms and conditions contained in the Grant Agreement. EMD Serono’s Standard Form of
Grant Agreement is posted on the Grant Management website.
2. Per EMD Serono’s medical education grant policy, educational programs must be primarily
dedicated, in both time and effort, to promoting objective scientific and educational activity
and discussion.
3. Per EMD Serono’s medical education grant policy, individual professionals, physician group
practices, physician-owned clinics, managed care organizations, and pharmacy benefit
managers are not eligible to apply for accredited professional education grants.
4. All organizations must bear their own costs associated with responding to this Request for
Proposals and submitting a grant application.
5. EMD Serono reserves the right to amend or terminate this Request for Proposals at any
time and for any reason. EMD Serono reserves the right to not grant any of the grant
applications submitted through the Grant Program.
6. EMD Serono reserves the right to verify all information provided by an organization in its
grant application.
7. Grant Recipients shall be required to disclose that financial support was received from EMD
Serono in invitations, brochures, advertisements and other written communications related
to the educational activity.
8. In addition, the Grant Recipients shall be required to disclose the following information to
attendees at the start of the educational activity: (1) EMD Serono’s financial support for the
activity; (2) any financial relationships between the Grant Recipients, faculty, presenters,
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moderators or other person who is in a position to control the content of the educational
activity and EMD Serono; and (3) whether any unapproved uses of products will be
discussed.
9. The award of Educational Grants shall be conditioned on the Grant Recipient’s consent to
public disclosure of the Educational Grant on EMD Serono’s website. The website
disclosure will include the Grant Recipient’s name, a brief description of the activity for which
the Educational Grant was provided, and the amount of the Educational Grant. The website
disclosure will be updated quarterly.
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